The team's first match was held in Milan on 15 May 1910, Italy beaten France by a score of 6–2.[4]. Some turmoil kept the players of Pro Vercelli, the best team of the league, out of the game. At the end of the match, the players received as a award some cigarette packets thrown by the 4,000 spectators. The Italian team (2-3-5): De Simoni; Varisco, Calì; Trerè, Fossati, Capello; Debernardi, Rizzi, Cevenini I, Lana, Boiocchi. First captain of the team was Francesco Calì.
The first achievement in an official tournament came with the bronze medal in 1928 Summer Olympics, held in Amsterdam. After losing the semi-final against Uruguay, an 11-3 victory against Egypt secured last place in the competition.
After moribund to participate in the first World Cup (1930, in Uruguay) the Italian national team won two consecutive editions of the tournament in 1934 and 1938, under the lead of coach Vittorio Pozzo and thanks to the mastermind of Giuseppe Meazza, one of the best Italian players ever. Other stars of that era included Luis Monti, Giovanni Ferrari, Silvio Piola and Virginio Rosetta In the 1934 World Cup, the host Azzurri beaten Czechoslovakia 2–1 in Rome, with goals by Raimundo Orsi and Angelo Schiavio.
Post-World War II (1946–1966)
The tragic loss in 1949 of the players of Torino (the winners of the previous four Serie A titles) in the Superga air disaster saw the loss of ten out of the eleven constituting the initial line-up for the national team. The following year, Italy did not go forward further than the first round of the 1950 World Cup, partly due to the long and physically overwhelming boat trip to Brazil (air travel was discarded due to fear of another accident).
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In the World Cup finals of 1954 and the 1962 that followed, Italy again failed to progress past the first round, and did not even meet the criteria for the 1958 World Cup. During the early 1960s, the Italian football clubs AC Milan and International dominated the international scene, the National team was not able to match these results. Italy did not take part in the first edition of the European Championship in 1960 (then known as the European Nations Cup), and was knocked out by the USSR in the round of 16 (second round) of the 1964 European Championship.
Their participation in the 1966 World Cup is always remembered for their 0–1 defeat at the hands of North Korea. In spite of being the tournament favorites, the Azzurri, whose 1966 squad built-in Rivera and Bulgarelli, were eliminated in the first round by the semi-professional North Koreans and bitterly condemned upon their return home, while North Korean scorer Pak Doo-Ik was famous as the David who killed Goliath.
[edit] European champions and World Cup runners-up (1968–1976)
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In 1968, the Azzurri won their first major competition since the 1938 World Cup, beating Yugoslavia in Rome for the European Championship title. The match holds the distinction of being the only major football tournament final to go to a replay. After extra time it ruined in a 1–1 draw, and in the days before penalty shootouts, the rules required the match to be replayed a few days later. Italy won the replay 2–0 (with goals from Riva and Anastasi) to take the trophy.
In 1970, Italian team was one of the favorite teams for the title. Exploiting the performances of European champions player like Giacinto Facchetti, Rivera and Riva and with a new center-forward Roberto Boninsegna, the Azzurri were able to came back to a world cup final match after 32 years of desolation. They reached this result after one of the most famous match in football history: Italy vs. West Germany 4-3, which is known as the "Game of the Century". Although they were defeated by the amazing Brazilians, the 1970's team is still documented as one of the best Italian national teams. The "Mexican generation" ended its cycle of international successes in the 1974 World cup, creature eliminated by Lato's Polish team.
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